


Mileven Reunites

by AlyEggos



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 06:45:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17116412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyEggos/pseuds/AlyEggos
Summary: Short rewrite of Mileven reuniting, just because I'm getting back into writing and recently made an Archive of Our Own account.





	Mileven Reunites

**Author's Note:**

> Stranger Things supports parallel dimensions, so everything is technically cannon, right?
> 
>  
> 
> I don't know what this will spark or where I will go with this. ALWAYS appreciate feedback!  
> I hope you enjoy this erm.. rewrite? Mileven fluff? El POV? Happy Holidays!

Post countless bus stops and many arid city streets, she had finally made it. The seemingly unstimulating road into the Hawkins forest was, in truth, the most invigorating sight she had seen in what felt like a lifetime. Yet it hadn’t even been a year. El stood in the middle of the cracked concrete street, lit only by the reflection of he moon. The road ahead extended far, into the dark patch of endless trees. The Byers’ household was near, outlying just beyond the twists and turns of the path ahead. Her mother was unable to offer her a home, Kali was resolute in taking vengeance, and Papa; Papa was a malevolent mouth breather who she had to get out of her head. She proceeded down the street, barely holding her limp self up.

El was about to see Joyce and Will, and Nancy and Jonathan, and Dustin and Lucas, and Hopper and... and Mike. Suddenly she felt a sharp pang of regret and grabbed her chest, as if she could rip this new emotion out of herself. She could remember seeing him with.. her. It was out of place. He had called her every night for months, and when she broke the rules she and Hopper set together- all to see him- in that moment she struggled with herself. A compulsion to collapse in his arms, battling an impulse to snap every bone in that appalling girl’s body. She couldn’t face Mike if he was moving on like that, but she would not for the life of her cause him any more pain. So she flipped Max off of her skateboard and for the nights to come wished it had all gone differently. She knew that Mike still missed her, but it didn’t matter, it hadn’t mattered since she boarded the bus to Hawkins, because in the end, they needed each other and she had to see him again that night. Exhilarated by the thought, she sprinted into the woods, her muscles breaking down, far beyond tired. A bit of blood trickled down her nose, joined with tears streaming down her face. Never had someone been abused like she had been in the past and as hopeful as she was in the moment. She took long strides in her old Converse, simply eager to see everyone again.

Eleven was a few hundred yards from Joyce’s battered house, emitting a soft glow that conveyed “home” in every possible way.

However, the Upside Down would never allow her journey to be even remotely tranquil. She had been close to the house, collecting herself as she walked through the thick grass. She was considering her last encounters with The Party, and thinking how, candidly, her punk makeover did not match her honest personality. She was about to reconcile with the only family she had ever known.

But the demodogs had stirred, and they were coming, and they were there. Unnerving pests crawling around the field. A large one approached El, snarling. They weren’t peculiarly frightening to her. Not compared to what she had faced. She could shatter windows, slam doors, and snap the necks of anyone without even laying a finger on them. The monster was gnashing its teeth- its many teeth. El took it by the throat with her telekinesis, watching it thrash and struggle and screech uncontrollably, suspended in midair. She had always been deprived of a normal life, deprived of a family and of a home and of knowing love. No more. She compressed the slimy skin covering its neck, pulled its muscles from their sockets, and witnessed it go limp. She forced the demodog through the window of the Byers’ house, shattering the glass all around.

Eleven took a heavy step onto the porch and turned the lock, the knob, and the safety chain from inside the door, slowly stepping into the living room; her heart melted immediately. They were there, all of them, like she’d seen in her visions on the way here, but she saw him first. Mike, he was there, and he saw her this time, although he wasn’t seeing her. And she wasn’t seeing him. She wasn’t looking at him like he was all she needed, and he wasn’t looking at her the same way. She wasn’t frozen in her tracks; in disbelief, scared to touch him because he would disappear just like he did in her visions each and every night. And he didn’t say “Eleven” like he could see her whole self, all except for, he did. It was, all unbelievably real, she was so overwhelmed and glad and she was overtaken by a million more different emotions, “Mike”, and she subsided into his arms and hugged him tightly, breathing heavily and fighting a great urge to cry, holding on, anxious of letting go, because she couldn’t lose him again.In those blissful seconds hugging Mike, nothing mattered, not the Mindflayer, or Brenner, or even her past. Mike and Eleven meant everything to each other. And she felt a few tears come, despite her efforts.

He didn’t let go of her when he spoke, “I never gave up on you”, he took a hasty breath, “I called you every night. Every night for-“

“Three hundred and fifty-three days,” she shook her head longingly, “I heard” her voice was breaking now. Their eyes were locked, and El could see Mike’s facial expressions waver.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were there?” He said, so gently and all too lovingly. Suddenly Eleven felt guilty at herself, as if it was her own fault, although she would've done anything in the world to see him. 

“Because I wouldn’t let her” Hopper interrupted. Mike turned around. El looked at Hop with a mix of shame and anger, but she was glad to see him.

“The hell is this? Where you been?”

“Where have you been?” she retaliated, and he pulled her in for a tight hug. While she was upset, she couldn’t deny she was glad to see him. Everything he had done to protect her was for her own good, she reminded herself. 

“You’ve been hiding her this whole time!” Mike said, devastated, “You’ve been hiding her this whole time!” And he shoved Hopper as hard as he could. Admittedly, It was a terrible thing to do, but from not so deep inside her emotions she felt a sense of pride and decided the display was out of care for her.

“Hey! Hey! Let’s talk,” Hopper said, “Alone”. Then El saw Mike give her an anxious but determined look, and watched her two favorite people in the world leave her once again. 

When Hopper shut the door, she turned to Lucas and Dustin. They came forward to hug her. They made her feel calm, protected, and they had talked about her pretty much every day, Dustin said. It was her job to protect them too. With them were the strongest bonds she had ever formed, unbreakable bonds she would never let go of.

And then.. that girl came forward. “Eleven?” she asked, “Hey. I’m Max. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Eleven did not care in the slightest. Max extended her hand, and El walked past her arrogantly, and rightfully she thought. She walked into Joyce’s embrace, and Joyce clasped her tightly in her arms, admiring her. In the past she had exchanged only short words with her, but already she had become the closest thing El had to a mother. What would having a mother be like? She knew enough from the small TV Hopper supplied, that a mother is helpful, supporting, and loving. El never had that. She was independent. She spent the majority of her life alone, and unloved. Which is why when the two of them walked into Will's room, El felt a wave of new emotions, added to what she had already been feeling. Will was struggling, pale and dying. She had to rescue them all. She had to close the gate. She wanted a life for herself and for her friends. This was ending, today.

After hastily forming a plan, she stepped onto the porch, Mike close behind her. Neither of them were ready for this moment, neither were the rest of the party and the adults. Nor the town of Hawkins, or the distant urban streets of Chicago. She restrained herself from doubling over, all the pressure was on her...  She and Hop had to go. Now.

Mike looked at her fearfully, and although she would be saving the world, it wouldn't mean anything to Mike without her in it. “Be careful, okay? I can’t lose you again.” There was a lot more he wanted to say, but time was a pressing matter, and he was scared and terrified and worried and he hated this feeling because he had to be with Eleven.

“You won’t lose me” she promised, a confirmation that she couldn't break, because friends don't lie. And maybe if she promised it to him, she would believe herself.But she needed something more, remembering the night in the cafeteria they shared nearly a year ago, and could tell that he did too and barely noticing, she was leaning into him...

“El, come on, let’s go,” Hop said, startling the two of them. She looked at Mike a final time, both their eyes tearing up.They had to see each other again, it wouldn't go any other way. It was time.


End file.
